The investment dresser: the tailored jacket

Apparently sales of tailored jackets are down. How can this be? If wardrobes are like ecosystems - and they are, complete with useless parasites - then jackets are the amino acids of that system, building protein left, right and centre and beefing up any outfit you choose to wear.

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Take that perennial, skinny jeans. Add T-shirt, blouse and a knit and you have the basics of a perfectly good weekend or dress-down Friday. Now replace that knit with a tailored jacket and you have an outfit that can take you into the boardroom. You're ready for anything with a jacket.

Last-minute invitation from Buckingham Palace? Have jacket, will attend. It has to be a jacket that fits beautifully, in a gorgeous, classy fabric. I'm thinking lightweight Prince of Wales wool, British ideally - rather like the double-breasted one Stella McCartney was wearing when I interviewed her recently. The rest of her rig-out - sweatpants and layered tanks - was west-London casual. But that jacket was the business, and made her look that way, too.

That's what my all-time favourite jacket, from Antonio Berardi, does. If ever there's a starter jacket, to kick off your lifelong love affair with the genre, this is it: delicate pale grey that goes with everything, but not so pale as to be impractical; constructed with Savile Row precision, manufactured with Italian softness.

It makes dresses look less girlish, gives floaty skirts a kick up their frothy rears, defines waist and hips while covering half my behind, without being too long (I'm short). It's narrow, the way I like them, with small lapels, single-breasted with three-quarter-length sleeves, which flare subtly, a detail that always makes a jacket less corporate.

That's the challenge, isn't it? Finding the exact point on the spectrum between cool, androgynous, French fashion editor and the person behind the baggage check-in counter. It's all about cut, and finding the one that suits you. Keep trying on: Zara's unbelievably good for the price; Vanessa Bruno's an excellent mid-leveller. Once you do find The One, you'll never look back, except to admire the view.